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A desire to tidy up the garden and do something outdoors - even before anything much is really happening there yet, garden-wise - drives many of us out to prune now.
March is a fine time for pruning from the perspective of most plants. Certain pruning questions predictably pop up this time of year.
A lilac makeover
Lilac sometimes get overgrown with neglect. Can a tangled mass of stems with awkward posture and few flowers be brought back to its former glory?
Yes, it can. There are two options in "renovation pruning" such a shrub.
The first is the drastic one: merely lop the whole plant to within 1 foot of the ground. Now. The renovated lilac will hardly be worth looking at for a year, perhaps two. A few vigorous shoots will grow this season, fueled by an established root system. Late next winter, thin out some of those stems, and you're on your way to a "new" shrub, full of blossoms and with a graceful growth habit. You will soon have what amounts to a whole new plant from the ground up.
The second option is to renovate the shrub over a period of four or five years. Although this takes more time, the plant will look decent and flower throughout the recovery period.
Exercise this option by cutting two or three of the oldest stems to ground level or to vigorous branches low on the plant each year in late winter. At the same time, thin out some of the youngest sprouts growing from ground level, making sure to leave a few as replacement shoots for the old wood you are removing.
After a few years - how many depends on how long the shrub has been neglected - you will have cut away all the old wood and replaced it with new wood. This "new" shrub will be shapely and bear abundant, fragrant blossoms.
Old apple trees made like new
Old apple trees similarly often suffer neglect. Such craggy, old trees do have a rustic charm, but too many of their fruits are pest-ridden, lacking flavor and high out of reach. Can the plant be returned to its former glory?
Again, the answer is yes, with, again, renovation pruning.
But before you pick up your pruning tools, ask yourself whether your efforts will be justified. Is the tree of a particularly good variety? Do you really want a tree where that tree is?
Some young trees could already be bearing in the time it would take to restore this one, so before beginning renovation pruning, consider "pruning" the tree with a saw - at ground level.
If you do decide to renovate the old tree, now is a good time to start. First make some large cuts low in the tree to thin it out and, if you want, to lower it and limit its spread.
Cut one or two major limbs back to their origin or to sturdy side branches. If more major limbs need cutting back, wait a year, and if still more must go, hold off for yet another year. If you cut too much in one year, there is the risk of sunburn on once-shaded bark.
This summer, new sprouts may grow near some of your pruning cuts. Some of these sprouts, especially those of moderate vigor, might be in good positions to make permanent new limbs. Save those and cut away the others, especially when many are clustered near a pruning cut.
With major cuts out of the way for now, progress to more detailed pruning, using a small pruning saw and lopper. Look over the stems and cut back to sound wood any that are diseased, dead or broken. Also remove stems that are overcrowded or weak. Cut back any drooping stem to a branch near the place where the stem starts drooping.
Finally, stand back and admire your work. Cleaned up, an old fruit tree can look even more charming than it did when it was neglected and overgrown. Now give your tree a hug.


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Glenn Mangurian is the Chairman of the Court Management Advisory Board. He is a non-lawyer and a respected leader with a 35-year track record in industry and management consulting. He has worked with Global 500 business executives in North America and Europe on managing large scale change and performance improvement. In 2001, Mangurian suffered an injury to his spinal cord which left him paralyzed from the waist down. He continues to be active in consulting, speaking and coaching to business leaders. Mangurian also teaches leadership at the University of Massachusetts.
1. You have people from many different backgrounds and perspectives working together on the Court Management Advisory Board. What benefits does that provide?
The Board is a group of very accomplished peers. I come from a consulting background where a core principle was to incorporate a diversity of backgrounds and thinking styles. In this environment there was a lot of innovative energy applied to creating value by solving intractable problems, and you might encounter what seemed like conflict but was really more like aggressive "thought partnering." If everybody is more similar than different, then it's easy to come to consensus without a full exploration of non-obvious options.
I respect this advisory board because each member brings a diverse set of backgrounds and commitment to the judicial system. There are not only lawyers and non-lawyers, but people in different career stages and legal practices, as well as generational differences. Mutual respect is the foundation of any team. While we may not always agree, respect and dedication to justice are cornerstones of our interactions. There's a presumption that the Board members believe that their advice will help improve the management of the courts and it is a worthy sacrifice of their time.
As we start to hone in on sites of action where we would work with courts, I'm always looking to see how that maps against the interests and passions of the members. My professional style is to constantly ask, "How can we tap into passion related to justice that exists inside each board member?" Everyone wants to make a difference.
Similarly, the courts are full of very dedicated and talent people who resonate with the courts mission. I think there is an opportunity to rekindle the spirit of the courts' workforce. If you can marry daily responsibilities with a sense of fulfillment, then the work doesn't seem so much like work. The judicial system has the benefit of being a mission-driven organization, moreover with a noble mission to deliver justice. While we've got an imperfect system (which will always be imperfect), that mission has transcended hundreds of years of judicial practice and allowed us to live in a civilized society.
Each of the judges I have come in contact with is a dedicated person who could be doing better financially in private law, but at the end of the day, they believe in what they do; the same goes for the rest of the court staff I've met. Part of what I'm saying is that during these difficult economic times there's an opportunity and need for self-motivation based on shared values.
2. From your perspective, how can you see leadership in Boston's legal community continuing to develop? What is needed?
I am a business guy and not inside the legal community. I know that lawyers, like doctors, have to be smart. But there are different types of 'smart.' For the past 20 years, leaders have recognized that success requires different forms of "emotional intelligence." For some, these forms of intelligence come naturally; but for others they are elusive.
Law school is about creating depth of legal knowledge. The practice of law is very specialized in advancing narrow and deep competencies. I suspect there are some superb legal scholars who are not as adept at communicating with or managing people. National law practice heads and managing partners need more than legal excellence to succeed – they need leadership. Lawyers and judges aren't explicitly trained in leadership, though some may have developed leadership skills along the way. In business, leadership is developed on the job – first as an apprentice manager and then through exposure to a broad set of issues, cultures and functional experiences. So essentially, it's about balance.
I teach a master's level course on leadership called "Discover the Leader Within." What I try to do is encourage people to look inside themselves and recognize instances where they have acted as leaders. My premise is that we all have leadership skills, they just may be dormant. Sometimes we're using them without even knowing.
Finally, developing leadership individually is about asking yourself broadly: "Where do I excel, and how relevant is that to the task at hand? Where do I not naturally gravitate?" Then you can look at a specific task and ask: "What does it need? What do I bring; what's missing, or not there sufficiently, and where can I get it?" The solo hero as a leader is a fixture of the past (if it ever existed). No leader knows it all or has all the skills. Rather, leadership is about mobilizing others toward a common goal using the unique strengths and interests of team members. This may not be taught in law school but it is the reality of today.
3. What is the greatest challenge facing the Court Management Advisory Board, and how do you overcome it?
The Board has to be relevant; otherwise it wastes time. One of the first tools to navigate to relevance is the recently completed strategic plan. The plan provides points to domains for action. The court metrics represent a second tool. How do individual courts perform and how do they perform in aggregate? For the Board the metrics are less of an evaluation instrument and more of a pointer for learning by asking "why". There is danger in dealing with averages. Rather, we want to understand why there is so much variation around the averages. The third tool is listening to the court leaders and workforce on the ground delivering justice every day. We are not dealing with an abstraction called the courts. Every day over 40,000 people visit the courts – different people with different issues trusting that justice will be delivered. It is an enormous responsibility. We need to work to improve the experience of everyone that visits the court and maintain public trust.
Right now there is a unique opportunity to take a leap forward in building the 21st century judicial system. In addition to the strategic plan three important changes are occurring concurrently: two new trial court leaders – court administrator Harry Spence and new Chief Justice Paula Carey, five new departmental leaders and six new members of the Advisory Board. This is an opportunity that can't be missed. Building on this, the challenge that any leader has is not necessarily deciding what to do, but what not to do. Focus is an essential part of leadership and execution. If you take on too much, you run the risk of not getting anything done. Organizations and the people embedded in them want to know priorities. The challenge is finding a focus that is relevant and sticking with it long enough to have an impact.
Funding has been a significant challenge in the past four or five years. The courts have shouldered more than its share of budget reductions. We live in a time where, for the foreseeable future, budgets will continued to be constrained with modest increases at best. You want to get your fair share, but you have to recognize you'll never get as much as you like. The Board and others advocate for the value that the courts play in society. But the reality is that doing more won't necessarily come with more money. Continuous improvement must become a shared value. I am confident that there are many pockets of innovation around the state improving local operations. A challenge is to encourage more of that and share the experiences more broadly. I am very optimistic that the court leadership with advice from the Board is up for that challenge.
4. What advice would you give to a leader of any group of lawyers about encouraging performance improvements among his or her team?
You should start with figuring out how to build an ethic of continuous improvement – you cannot rest on laurels. Whether it is competition or society, change is ongoing and often unpredictable. We used to be able to anticipate the future by extrapolating the past. Today, change is more discontinuous and disruptive. Strategy is not deciding what to do but rather what not to do. Focus and execution are paramount. Law firms like other sectors of our economy need to be keenly aware of what is going on around them and try to make sense of it.
Associations like the Boston Bar can play an important role in bringing the issues of tomorrow to the forefront today. For example, firm leaders must figure out what to do with professionals who aren't growing and staying abreast of the knowledge curve. More importantly, firm leaders need to be investing in and developing the next generation of leaders now. None of this is easy but, that's why leaders get paid the "big bucks". Who will be the winners and losers? Well, the "jury is still out" – but if you don't know the game is changing, you are more likely to be a spectator than a player. Playing to not lose is a losing proposition. If you have gotten this far in this blog, you are at least interested and likely a player in the future. Good luck.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Next Big Thing
My buddy Cecil Castellucci tagged me in this meme, in which you talk about a project you've been working on. Which is incredibly scary for me because I almost never talk about the project I'm working on. I worry that the magic will leak out. But Cecil is a magical being and I'm pretty sure she would never let me do anything to drain the mojo.
First, you should know about Cecil because her books are the only ones that consistently go missing from my bookshelves. I always tell my babysitters that they're free to borrow any books they want and somehow Cecil's never make it back. I don't mind, really. I get it. They're treasures. Cecil Castellucci is the author of books and graphic novels for young adults and the young at heart. You will want to read them under your covers with a flashlight. They will make you remember who you were once, who you still are somewhere. Read one now!
The book I'm writing right now is a memoir about my epically post-modern family. Here goes:
Where did the idea come from for the book?
This memoir is different from Some Girls in that it addresses the very recent past. I think that my blog has got me in the habit of writing from a life-in-progress, rather than sharing a narrative that was all tied up in a bow long ago. I knew that I wanted to talk about identity, motherhood, adoption because those are my most pressing themes right now, but I wasn't sure what the medium was going to be. Initially, I wrote a one-woman show, which I toured with this summer. But it became clear to me that I needed a wider canvas. I needed space to explore the issues more in-depth. When I sat down to write, a memoir started coming out of me. Ultimately, I think that where books come from is a mysterious thing.
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Tariku should definitely play himself. Who else could possibly do it? Scarlett Johansen as me (as if!). Vincent Price as my father (kidding). Mike Patton as Scott (just cause he'd be STOKED and also I want to watch the fake me make out with him).
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
MAPPING THE FAULT LINES is the story of letting go of my mothers in order to become a mother, and how the journey enabled me to forgive all three of us.
When will this book be published?
I'll let you know when I know!
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft is still in progress. But I imagine it will take about four or five months. Then there will be seven or eight more drafts, because that's how I work!
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Lit by Mary Karr, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson, The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Becoming a mother is so transformative that it's almost impossible to ignore, as a writer of non-fiction. Plus, I find that people are very curious about our story. People ask me about it all day long. They seem to really want to know how I got from where I was back in the ol' harem days to where I am now. So this book is the answer.
Here are the other super talented people that Cecil tagged:
Jenn Fujikawa and Sarah Kuhn and Amber Bensen., Liza Palmer, and Sherri L. Smith.
As for who I'm tagging to go next, here are some of my fave writers/friends/humans:
Shawna Kenney is the author of I Was a Teenage Dominatrix (Last Gasp), which is in development as a tv series with the FX Network. She also wrote Imposters (Mark Batty Publishers), a book about the celebrity impersonators of Hollywood Boulevard. She and her husband Rich Dolinger are currently co-editing Live at the Safari Club: a people's history of harDCore. Her work has appeared in Bust, Ms., Juxtapoz, Creative Nonfiction and numerous anthologies.
Jamie Rose is an actress, teacher and author of the fabulous memoir Shut Up and Dance! The Joy of Letting Go of the Lead–On the Dance Floor and Off.
Amanda Fletcher doesn't have a blog yet, but she's cooking up a hell of a memoir. She was my mentee in the PEN USA EV Fellowship and she blows me away. Amanda, don't give me lip! You're it! Just post on fb or something!
3 thoughts on "The Next Big Thing"
Oh I can't wait to read your next book!
Yay!!!!!! Can't wait!!!
Seriously I am so excited for this. I still tell everyone I know how incredible Mother Tongue was here in Philly. If you are ever in the area– please let me know so we can get together and I can pick your brain again! Best of luck with the new book!


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I wanted to do all the characters until I saw there's like 50 of them. Okay, not really but there are a lot. I think Blue in his chair at the top turned out cute.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Blues Clues Cake
Posted by Cassy Taylor at 7:10 AM 1 comments
Labels: Birthday
Hawaiian Cake and cupcakes
These were made for a girl whose wish (for "Make a wish") was to go to Hawaii. They threw her a party and surprised her with the arrangements to go. What a cool organization.
Posted by Cassy Taylor at 7:02 AM 0 comments
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Batman Cake
This was for a friend of ours who likes batman. Since he's not a child, I had to make sure I made it more grown-up-like. Mission accomplished!
Posted by Cassy Taylor at 8:26 PM 1 comments
Labels: Birthday- BOY
Fading pink ruffle cake
Posted by Cassy Taylor at 8:20 PM 0 comments
Girly Jake and The Neverland Pirates cupcakes
These were for a girl this time so we had to make it a bit more girly. I took out a lot of the red since it clashes more with pink and purple and I tried so hard to create the girl character from it but for some reason I couldn't get her to look cute and feminine. I guess this is a popular cartoon. Wish it was on Netflix.
Posted by Cassy Taylor at 8:14 PM 0 comments


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There has been a flurry of improvements made to the Clojure web stack during the past year. Compojure has matured, there's some non-trivial code available (for example, see Brian Carper's cow-blog) and the new Sandbar library which brings a higher-level of abstraction on top of Compojure and Ring. For now, it provides a stateful session mechanism, authorization + authentication and a clever way of defining forms layout, processing and validation. Also there's much more to come, you can look at the details in the following roadmap.
For today, I'll discuss the recent changes to the forms namespace. There has been a lot of work done on that part during the past week, but the changes to the API are minimal. I'll go over each options of the defform macro, but first lets talk about the code behind. As Stuart Halloway stated in his book, the first rule of the Macro Club is: "Don't Write Macros." So the most significant alteration is the rewrite of the defform macro. Previously, it was a big piece of code (134 lines) generating a bunch of definitions of all sorts. It was quite hard to modify and had the usual constraints of using macros that way. It now has been replaced by a much more simple macro that call the new make-form function.
Lets see a sample form written for the current (0.3) version of Sandbar.
(forms/defform group-form "/group/edit" :fields [(forms/textfield :name) (forms/select :region (db/all-region) {:id :name :prompt {"" "Select a Region"}}) (forms/textarea :description)] :load #(db/fetch-group %) :on-cancel "/groups" :on-success #(do (db/store-group %) (session/flash-put! :user-message "Group has been saved.") "/groups") :properties {:name "Group's name:" :description "Description:"}) (defroutes group-form-routes (group-form (fn [request form] (views/layout form))))
It was nice but had a severe limitation: you were forced to use a fixed set of routes. When creating a record, "/new" was appended to the given URI else the "id" key was used. Also, the fields option tended to become cluttered with the data source bindings. These are the two main point I'll address here.
Firstly, lets rewrite the fields option, it's quite similar in taking a vector of field descriptions. The difference is in the field description functions that are taking the name of the field (as a keyword) followed by a list of optional key/value pairs.
:fields [(forms/textfield :name :label "Group's name:") (forms/select :region :prompt {"" "Select a Region"}) (forms/textarea :description :label "Description:")]
Each field functions can take a label option, then most have an optional boolean required option which auto-generate the corresponding validator for that field and finally there's the prompt option for the select field. Any other options will be added to the field's HTML attribute.
Secondly, there are the new options for managing the form action and method attributes. Each are prefixed by create or update followed by -action or -method whether it's for an action or method. They can take parametrized routes which will get their parameters replaced by the matching route parameters from the incoming request.
:create-action "/groups" :update-action "/groups/:id" :update-method :put
Thirdly, here's the new bindings option which take a map of field names followed by their respective binding information in a map.
:bindings {:region {:value :id :visible :name :source (constantly (db/all-regions)) :data :id}}
The source option needs a function that fetch the relevant data, the visible option determines what field to show on the page and the value and data options represent the actual value to use in the source data map and the form data map respectively.
Finally here's the whole code for this example using the new forms features using RESTful routes.
(forms/defform group-form "Form handler for Group entity." :fields [(forms/textfield :name :label "Group's name:") (forms/select :region :prompt {"" "Select a Region"}) (forms/textarea :description :label "Description:")] :load #(db/fetch-group %) :on-cancel "/groups" :on-success #(do (db/store-group %) (session/flash-put! :user-message "Group has been saved.") "/groups") :create-action "/groups" :update-action "/groups/:id" :update-method :put :bindings {:region {:value :id :visible :name :source (constantly (db/all-regions)) :data :id}}) (defroutes group-form-routes (GET "/groups/new" request (group-form request)) (POST "/groups" request (group-form request)) (GET "/groups/:id/edit" request (group-form request)) (PUT "/groups/:id" request (group-form request)))
Furthermore, other modifications include that most defform options can take a function of the request instead of just a value and that redirection URIs in the on-success and on-cancel options can be parametrized.
The forms namespace is still a work in progress and is still being improved. Particularly there is talk concerning the way forms get rendered, which currently lack flexibility as pointed out by David Nolen in this thread. Nothing has been done yet in this regard, so it's the right time for anyone interested to chime in this discussion.


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NEWRY & RUMFORD, Maine — Taylor Vest-Burton and Sam Coffey finished the men's giant slalom in fourth and fifth place, respectively, to propel the University of New Hampshire skiing team to fourth place overall following Friday's opening day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) Championships, hosted by Bates College.
Dartmouth leads the way in the NCAA East Regionals with 448 points, followed by Vermont (438.5 points), Middlebury (382) and UNH (354) with one day of racing remaining.
At Sunday River, Vest-Burton registered a combined time of 2 minutes, 35.36 seconds for his top finish of the year and a season-high 41 points. Coffey, who posted the third-fastest time on his initial run (1:17.30), notched his fourth top-five result of the year in a time of 2:35.41 for 39 points. Kris Hopkins racked up 25 points with a 15th-place time of 2:36.88. The Wildcats finished in third place in men's GS with 105 points, behind Vermont (117) and Middlebury (115).
Jenna Kantor made it back-to-back top-5 GS finishes by recording a two-run time of 2:40.88 for sixth place (37 points) to lead UNH's women's team to fifth place (84 points). Marie-Elaine Lepine finished in 14th place (2:42.52) for 27 points, and Randa Teschner secured 21st place (20 points) in 2:43.46. Dartmouth took first place with 104 points.
Liz Guiney paced the UNH women's Nordic team by finishing sixth in the 5K classic at Black Mountain. The senior co-captain tallied 37 points by clocking in at 15 minutes, 33.0 seconds. Annika Taylor placed 19th in 16:20.5 for 26 points, and Elizabeth Izzo totaled 21 points in 16:32.3 for 24th place. The Wildcats scored 84 points to finish in fourth place, while Dartmouth collected 133 points to post the victory.
Erik Lindgren received top 'Cat honors in the men's 10K classic by crossing the finish line in 28:28.9 for 12th place (29 points). Sam Reed took 13th place (28 points) in 28:39.3, while co-captain Perry Thomas earned his first points (24) of the season by virtue of his career-best 17th-place finish in 28:46.7. New Hampshire finished fifth with 81 points; Dartmouth scored 127 points to earn the victory.
The EISA Championships wrap up today with the women's 10K freestyle mass start and men's 15K men's free MS at Black Mountain, with the men's and women's slalom races slated for Sunday River. For more information, visit www.unhwildcats.com or www.unhskiing.com.
Field hockey holds banquet
DURHAM — The University of New Hampshire Wildcats field hockey program held its annual team banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2012 team and student-athletes. The event was held last Saturday, Feb. 20, to hand out the awards as well as honor the senior class.
UNH (12-8, 5-0 America East) won the America East regular season on the way to another America East Championship game appearance hosted here at UNH. The 'Cats came up a bit short, losing to Albany by a score of 3-1.
Megan Bozek was the recipient of the Joyce V. Hiller Award, which is awarded to the player who is always there with a helping hand and gives selflessly to the program. She was an integral part to both the offensive and defensive corner units recording 10 goals and four assists for 24 points to rank second on the team in both goals and points.
The Donna Lynne '74 Scholarship Award, which goes to an athlete that makes a substantial contribution to the team through athletic and leadership abilities, was awarded to Casey Pohlmeyer. She finished the season with five goals and team-high nine assists for 19 points.
Hannah Richard was named the recipient of the Barbara Bridle Peyser Award chosen by the coaching staff. It goes to the player that embodies a competitive spirit and through their improved play has made a significant contribution to the team's success.
The Marisa Didio Award, given to the student-athlete who gives themself more freely and goes the extra mile, was awarded to sophomore midfielder Kellie Joyce. She was instrumental to the team's success this season scoring three game-winning goals.
Maegan Grew was named recipient of the Susan Kilmister Award, which is awarded to the team's "unsung hero" who reflects Sue's dedication, accomplishments and sportsmanship as a student-athlete. The sophomore back did not record a point on the season but played in all 20 games for the 'Cats and contributed heavily to the team's defense that allowed just six goals in five conference games to rank second in America East in goals against average.
The senior class consisted of Mary Quill, Claire Grogan and Emma Erler. This group of seniors helped the 'Cats to one America East championship title and three consecutive America East regular season titles.


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Off A Cliff
With Carl Crawford already under the Red Sox Christmas Tree, Jayson Werth inexplicably paid as if he'd had the durability of a lesser Albert Pujols, the Yankees having tied themselves to an aging shortstop well on his way to batting 7th, and the Mets having deftly acknowledged without admitting that their biggest free agent signing this winter will probably be D.J. Carrasco, nearly all the baseball questions I'm getting are about Cliff Lee.
9 Comments
Cliff Lee may not sign with the Yankees?!?
NYC: I don't know how anyone cannot like Manhattan. I love all those historical neighborhoods, dating back to the stories of Geore Washington and the Revolutionary War in NY; there's Ellis Island, Hell's Kitchen, The Lower East Side, the Upper East Side, Little Italy, Sardi's, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the history of the Paramount Theater and The Palace, the Brill Building and its history, the mostly long gone mansions where the Gilded Age folks lived; all those wonderful Broadway Theaters that Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rogers & Hart, George Cohan, the Barrymores, the Gershwins, Ethel Merman – and on and on – made famous with their exquisite talent. Can't say if it's a good place to live, but it's the BEST PLACE to visit in the country.
I'll take Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too…
Cliff Lee may not sign with the Yankees. Well I'll be. Crawford isn't the present under my Christmas tree. Your article is. Thanks. Lol.
"I'll give you five of my best guys; pick any five. If we don't go to the World Series, I get those guys back."
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on his proposed deal for Roy Halladay.
I agree with 1948braves that NYC is a great place to visit, which Cliff Lee can do every year when his team plays in NYC. But maybe, just maybe, having your wife completely disrespected and harassed by Yankee fans might not make signing and rewarding them a very good move for the marriage.
I bet his wife is buying him a Red Sox sweatshirt for Christmas.
beatle fan1: I don't think wives being treated unfairly only happens in NY. It happened here as well. The latest being I think Johnny Damon's wife. Fans in all cities can be brutal. I wondered if Jeter's experience during his negotiations has anything to do with it, if this deal goes down, that is. I don't think the NYY handled the negotiations well. It should never have happened in such a public way. Not with Jeter, of all players.
beatle fan1? Well, I guess that makes me beatle fan2? I love 'em. I was just listening to John Lennon's Happy Christmas/War Is Over song. I saw a poll where it was voted the #3 most favorite Christmas song after White Christmas and Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song. Don't know if this will work, but here's the video –
All the children singing were from the Harlem Choir. They're all little black children. I never knew that in all these years of listening to the song. It's one of John Lennon's best pieces of work. Phil Spector evidently helped with it as well.
Cliff Lee. Now we wait.
Perhaps Lee is not a NY kinda guy but he played in Philadelphia–whose fans are not exactly dainty and genteel– and survived. So, I dunno. Then again, if Lee's wife felt upset enough to not want to be at YS on any regular basis, that's understandable. Even A-Rod's then-wife caught flak in The Bronx; unruly, vicious, knucklehead fans I cannot and will never condone but that they exist is a sad fact, nonetheless.
I find it amusing that people will end up–it will happen if he stays with the Rangers–criticizing Cliff Lee for choosing lifestyle over money. Not that he will be suffering financially any which way. But think of Tony Gwynn, who obviously could have gone anywhere but played where he wanted to play and still made good money. Or, for that matter, Derek Jeter, who has been paid very well but probably could have signed a contract that would have enabled him to go elsewhere if he wanted and make more wherever he went.
Which reminds me, Keith. I recall Eric Sevareid once saying something along the lines that one of the most dangerous things in life is certitude.
Cliff Lee going to Philly. Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels (right, left, right, left) pretty impressive. … Not quite as good as Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine. (3 future hall of famers in my view). But I seriously doubt the 1971 Orioles with four 20-game winners will see that mark matched by the Philadelphia, either. … Today the world series favorites for 2011 have to be Boston vs. Philadelphia. … But the game is won on the field. I am actually looking forward to the 2011 MLB season.
The most desired free agent of the 2010 off season has signed with the team he went to the World Series in 2009. This development makes the Phillies' trading of Lee to the Mariners in December of '09 even more of a headscratcher. Instead of keeping him they instead traded him away because they thought they wouldn't have the money to resign him, and then do so the following year. Huh?
But the bottom line is, with the addition of Cliff Lee the Phillies now have the best starting rotation in baseball, the likes of which we?ve not seen since the Braves juggernaut of the ?90s. If it?s any consolation to the teams in the NL East, the Braves only got one championship out of that formidable Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine beast, albeit with plenty of division titles and a few pennants to show for it. But boy, they must be bummed in Flushing…
In missing out on Lee, the silver lining for the Rangers and the Yankees is they won?t have to face him except when it matters, if that happens to be the case.
As for the money thing?
Much has been made about Lee rejecting the $148 million and $138 million contracts offered by the Yankees and Rangers, respectively, and accepting the $120 million offer made by the Phillies. Yes, Lee did leave money on the table in the long run, but he took the contract that pays more per year. So this whole "he turned down the big bucks" thing is disingenuous.
Personally, I see respecting a free agent for taking less money the same as deciding not to respect him for taking more money. In other words, I don?t agree with either stance.
Want to accept less money to play with X? Good for you.
Want to accept more money to play with Y? Good for you.
Respecting players that accept less or criticizing those who go after more money is a romantic notion I do not share. (It?s quite selective, too: we didn?t hear anyone say they respected A-Rod when he was willing accept less money to play in Boston, right?) It?s also perpetuated by folks who would leave their jobs in a heartbeat if they got offered a $100/wk increase in salary, so I?m not inclined to take ?em seriously.
Because a baseball career has quite a finite duration?Bo Jackson, anyone??players have a limited window of time to make the kind of money no one in their right mind would turn down for doing what they love. I say go for it. If not, that?s cool too. To each to his own. But this vilification/deification nonsense has got to stop.
Keith – You need to get back into sports. Specifically sports talk and radio. There's an opening on Mad Dog radio on Sirius with the morning show with Steve Phillips. You'd be perfect.
Cliff Lee going to Philly. Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels (right, left, right, left) pretty impressive. … Not quite as good as Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine. (3 future hall of famers in my view). But I seriously doubt the 1971 Orioles with four 20-game winners will see that mark matched by the Philadelphia.


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Thanks for the great support, I have installed ssl for the server and for the first site and things seems to be in order. However, I have couple of questions: 1- when I try to login to the panel with https://mydomain.tld:8080 it works ;-) , but when i enter http://mydomain.tld:8080 I get to see html error code such as <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">  <title>400 Bad Request</title>
Bad Request

Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
 Reason: You're speaking plain HTTP to an SSL-enabled server port.
 Instead use the HTTPS scheme to access this URL, please.

Hint: https://server.mydomain.tld:8080/

  Is there a way to redirect the address to the (https) to avoid showing some detail that I would prefer not show? and it make it look more professional? 2- My first site works in both http and https, how do I make it to redirect the to the https even if I type in the address bar http only? 3- What is the range of ports that I could use to change the default instead of 8080? Thanks in advance, George


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One of the things that impressed me most about the 3DS was its online. With the 3DS, Nintendo has delivered a solid online experience—an experience that will be M.I.A. for Monster Hunter 3G.
It is possible to get online with Monster Hunter 3DS to do things like download event quests. You just won't be able to play with your faraway buddies.
The game's Wii version did support online; however, the 3DS version will not. Instead, players can connect via ah hoc wireless play. Old school.
モンスターハンター3(トライ)G [Capcom]
You can contact Brian Ashcraft, the author of this post, at firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.


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Herringbone Plait
by Loren Stewart
Herringbone Plait
by Loren Stewart
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Season one consists of six one-hour episodes.
The Plot:
School Spirits features chilling ghost stories from schools and universities across the country. Each tale is told through the first-person, eyewitness accounts of the students, alumni, faculty and historians who experienced the unexplained often terrifying phenomena, along with chilling dramatic reenactments.
Details on Season 1's Episodes:
Wednesday, June 20 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 101 "Sorority House Terror" (University of Michigan)
Logline: In 2006, a group of students at the University of Michigan move into their new sorority house – a huge old house located just off campus. Almost immediately, unexplainable disturbances begin to occur. Girls fall mysteriously ill and fights erupt suddenly and without reason. A spectral figure of a man begins to terrorize them but they soon learn there may be a more sinister presence lurking in the house.
Wednesday, June 27 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 102 "Dorm Room Nightmare" (SUNY Geneseo, NY)
Logline: In the fall of 1985, a college sophomore and talented athlete with Olympic dreams begins the school year at SUNY Geneseo. He soon finds himself battling for his life and sanity when a horrifying apparition with a broken neck begins stalking him.
Wednesday, July 11 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 103 "Collision Curse/Deadly Dorm Games"
(Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA)
Logline: A woman is haunted by the victim of a deadly car crash that occurred near her Alma Mater. Two college roommates pull pranks in their dorm, but the spirit of a little girl hit by a train near their dorm gets the last laugh.
Wednesday, July 18 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 104 "Ghostly Girls' School" (Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA)
Logline: A shadowy figure terrifies four friends at this idyllic campus, but is helped by the ghost of a mischievous little girl. Could the paranormal activity stem from a century old feud involving the college's founding family?
Wednesday, July 25 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 105 "Frat House Phantom" (Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA)
Logline: Fraternity brothers share their house with the spirit of a local Native American who was hanged after a murderous rampage a century ago.
Wednesday, August 1 @ 10PM ET/PT
Episode 106 "Campus Warning Signs" (Eastern Kentucky University)
Logline: A ghostly visitor sends a warning to a pair of best friends, saving their lives.
Watch the trailer:
Source: Syfy


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|Institution Type:
|Campus Setting:
|Great Lakes Rural area, on fringe of an urban area
|Highest Degree Offered:
|Associate's degree
|Level of Institution:
|At least 2 but less than 4 years
MSTC is a great college with a wide variety of programs. The staff are very helpfull through the every step of the process. MSTC offers a variety of outside class…
It is a great college with many opportunity's. The location is in a nice calm quiet area! The teachers and Staff are always willing to help and go the extra…
Midstate is a very good college. The teachers and staff are very helpful. That makes it very easy to go everyday and learn.…
I would rate Mid-State Technical College as a 9 out of 10. I'm very happy with my school, the instructors are or have worked in the field they teach. They…
Mid-State is a great place that really works with you to make the best out of your college experience. The advisers make sure you have every available access to achieve…
Mid-State Technical College serves its communities by providing lifelong learning opportunities which enhance the personal and economic well-being of individuals and businesses.
The campus is clean and very accomodating.Read More


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FinHeaven Lives
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2001
- Messages
- 3,809
- Reaction score
- 11
- Age
- 36
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
Here are the FinHeaven & Co Board Policies, failure to know them is simply your loss.
Here are the FinHeaven & Co Board Policies, failure to know them is simply your loss.
- There will be no attacks toward any other member, no matter what. If you are offended by another poster's comments, please email an administrator or moderator as soon as possible explaining what happened. If you respond in the same manor as they did, you are now part of the problem. If you have something against someone else, please email the member.
Furthermore, please... no racist, derogatory or other comments referring to sexual preference / gender
- There will be no swearing of any kind.
- Edited on August 1, 2002 - You may post a link to a great article or report on another fan site, however, you may not simply advertise a site. For example, you may say, "Check out this great report at blablabla.com" However, you may not say, "blablabla.com is an awesome site and its a must see." We know, its a very fine line... however, we think you understand what we mean.
- Moderators are given the right to edit or delete your thread, even without consulting you first. However, if you find that a moderator continually does this for know apparent reason, please email the Webmaster.
- If any member breaks any of these policies, the following will be done.
First warning is given via PM.
Secondly, a PM and email is sent.
Finally, you will banned. If you feel that you can act mature on the boards, please feel free to contact us.
- An Administrator is allowed to ban you without your notice if your action is severe.
- Added: Jan 06, 2002 - The Moderators and Super Moderators deserve the right to delete a post or thread without the Admin's input if the post or thread is severe or out of hand.
- Added: May 01, 2002 - Please keep posts where they belong. If you wish to talk about politics for example, please post it in "The Lounge." If you wish to talk about other NFL teams, post it in "General NFL." And, of course, if you wish to talk about YOUR MIAMI DOLPHINS, post it in the Miami Dolphins forum! If an Admin or Mod find that you have posted an off topic post, it will be moved to the appropriate forum.
- Added: May 30, 2002 - Please do not post an entire article. Instead, post the first three or so sentences, and then include a link to that article. The reason is simply because of copyright issues. And I for one do not want to have The Sun Sentinel coming after me in a lawsuit
- Added: July 25, 2002 - Anyone user name that contains profane words will be deleted from the message board. Note that this is not a ban, as you can re-register using a different name.
- Added: October 28, 2002 - In any forum (that includes the smack forum!), there are to be no lewd or pornographic remarks. Any of the such will be deleted immediately. If you continue to post such remarks, you will be banned. We try to keep this board as clean as possible...
If you continue to use a name that contains profanity or maybe harmful to children's eyes, you will be banned.... its as simple as that.
Next, please do not take everything one person says seriously. Yes, if you feel that it needs to be seen by a moderator or an administrator, please do. However, in most cases, a poster is joking around.
If you make a comment and you think it could offend someone, please include some type of indication that you are just joking around. Some people take things a little to seriously, and it should not.
The FinHeaven & Co Boards are meant to be an enjoyable place for Dolphin fans to talk about football with other fans, and amongst themselves. Anything that does not relate to football, take it to "The Lounge†section of the boards. If anyone defers the purpose of the boards, they will be talked to.
These policies are subject to change without notice, please check back often to make sure you have the latest policies.
I hope this clears up all the confusion, and will keep the Boards fun for everyone, Dolphin fans and any other fan that decides to come on over.


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Beach House 116
Garden City Beach - Ocean Front
- Complex: Beach House
- Type: Condominium
- Location: Ocean Front
- Property Type: Condominium
- Bedrooms: 2
- Bathrooms: 2 full
- Sleeps: 6
Bedding Types: 1 Queen, 2 Twin, 1 Sofa Bed
2020 Notice: Effective June 5, 2021 this property will include towels and bed linens on all reservations. Therefore, if you make a reservation with an arrival date on or after June 5, 2021 there is no need to add towels and bed linens to your reservation or bring your own. We've got you covered.
Beach House 116 is a two-bedroom, two-bath oceanfront condo located 0.4 miles north of Garden City Pier. This unit has a fully-equipped kitchen complete with dishwasher and microwave, living room with private balcony, washer, dryer, central heat and air conditioning, and ceiling fans. WiFi. Color TV (cable) and DVD player are also provided. Sleeping accommodations include one queen and two twin-sized beds, plus a queen-sized sofa bed. Common area includes swimming pool, sun deck, beautifully landscaped grounds and on-site coin operated laundry. Limit one parking pass per unit. No elevators. No trailers. No golf carts. No smoking. No pets. Check-out maid service included. Linens not included. Complete linen and bath package is available for $120, sheets and pillowcases only available for $60. Maximum occupancy: 6
Conveniently located close to some of the best area attractions, Garden City Beach is directly south of Surfside Beach and ends on a peninsula at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. One of the most renowned attractions in Garden City Beach is the Pier at Garden City. Other attractions include Marlin Quay Marina, Gulf Stream Cafe, Original Sam's Corner, and Sara J's Seafood Restaurant.
Just south of Garden City Beach is Murrells Inlet, a seaside community that is considered to be the "Seafood Capital of South Carolina", but is also home to some of the nation's best golf courses. Once primarily a fishing village, the town is best known for the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk, a half-mile long boardwalk overlooking a pristine salt marsh, and the many award-winning seafood and barbecue restaurants along Highway 17 Business in the central business district.
Brookgreen Gardens, a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve built on four former rice plantations, is located slightly south of Murrells Inlet. It features several themed gardens with American figurative sculptures placed in them, trails through several nature reserve ecosystems and the Lowcountry Zoo.
If you're looking for places to shop, Inlet Square Mall, The Market Common, Coastal Grand, Myrtle Beach Mall, Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing, two Tanger shopping outlets, countless strip-malls, and many more shopping facilities are all within an easy drive from Garden City Beach. Looking for some entertainment, take in a show at Alabama Theater, Medieval Times, The Carolina Opry, Pirates Voyage, and Legends in Concert. And don't forget about Ripley's Aquarium, Alligator Adventure, Hard Rock Cafe, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and The Pavilion Nostalgia Park.
Other points of interest close by include the waterfront community of Georgetown, the third oldest city in South Carolina and second largest seaport in South Carolina, and historic Conway with its downtown Riverwalk area nestled on the banks of the Waccamaw River. Both towns include fine dining, shopping, and historic sites.
Surfside Beach, Garden City Beach and Murrells Inlet are all close to Waccamaw Hospital and several urgent care facilities.
Whatever your desire, whatever your need, the south strand offers a little something on everyone's to-do list. We have a variety of restaurants, retail stores, miniature golf, entertainment venues, charter fishing, water sports... and of course, nothing but relaxation.
Guest ReviewsAvg. Rating:
Had a wonderful view of the ocean from the balcony
Services from rental manager
Property Condition
The room had everything we needed. From dishes to washer and dryer! It was very roomy.
Services from rental manager
Property Condition
Great stay, the unit was clean, would rent this unit again. Surprised there was only one TV, but we came here for the beach, not necessarily television.
Services from rental manager
Property Condition


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Leviathon wrote:I have ZERO idea how to put a pick on this post. Name plates - been there done that. Will post a pick on Facebook site. There is a guy that will do them in steel or aluminum.
New here, but would love to get the guy's information.
also, if I can find the guy's card on this mess that is my desk at home, I'll give you guys the info for a fellow who makes the rotation stickers and the original "use marine grade oil" sticker for the valve cover.


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Product 12/16
This purple lacquer Bb trumpet with Monel valves is not only great sounding, it offers many advance features that are not found on similarly priced instruments. It is very responsive and easy to play, making it the ideal choice for any level of player. especially the student trumpet player and intermediate trumpet player. Each trumpet is play tested at Cecilio's overseas factory and retested at Cecilio's Los Angeles distribution center to ensure that their high quality standards are met. This is why thousands of instructors have approved these trumpets.
Trumpet Features:
Outfit includes:
This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 06 August, 2008.


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Ana Maria Uribe, Escalera 3 (1999).
Ana Maria Uribe (1951-2004) was an Argentine visual poet who made work online beginning in 1997 after working in other media for many years. When she passed away in 2004, Jim Andrews (who runs Visual Poetry website vispo.com) posted a moving tribute to her work on Rhizome's mailing list, including this quote in which she recounts her formative experiences as a poetry:
I started with visual poetry in the late 60's after seeing some of Apollinaire's poems and Morgenstern's "Night Song of the Fish". Shortly afterwards I met Edgardo Antonio Vigo, who was then editing a magazine called "Diagonal Cero", devoted to visual poetry and mail art, and other poets such as Luis Pazos and Jorge de Lujan Gutierrez. They all lived in La Plata, a town which is 50 km from Buenos Aires, where I live, and we communicated by ordinary mail, either because there was a shortage of telephones at that time or to save costs, I don't remember which. I still keep some of the letters...
At a moment when many artists are again considering the medial qualities of poetry, Uribe's work seems well worth revisiting, particularly because (as Andrews noted, of her CD-ROM works) it reflected an understanding of "the poem on the screen as a performance." In the works, text is generally used pictorially (as with the ladder made of capital H's in the Escalera series), and rotated or otherwise manipulated to introduce a sense of motion into the scene. In the Rebote series, for example, the dots of lowercase i's bounce around playfully:


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The projects of German artist, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, flirt with the construction of scientific knowledge, grasping and slipping between the object and subject. Drawing from a background in visual and new media art practice, Meyer-Brandis creates installations, performances, and film that drift from scientific theory into fiction and wonder. Her work draws parallels with fictional and quasi-fiction worlds, those of space cadets and armchair rocket launchers.
Exploring recurring subjects such as gravity, weightlessness and space travel, her work has led to collaborations with scientists and researchers providing access to operations and activities usually restricted to scientific experimentation only. In 2007, while working on a project called Cloud-Core-Scanner she travelled on a zero gravity flight in collaboration with the DLR (German Aerospace Centre) to examine the formation of clouds in a weightless environment. As well as a rigorous scientific approach, her work is often tinged with a playful humour, such as her series of public meteor watching events, where participants are instructed to bring a safety helmet.


text: Aston Martin Racing News Tags AMOC Awards Brand Extension Centenary Corporate Dealers Events Films Gaydon GTE Heritage le mans Licensees Models Motor Shows Nürburgring Partnerships People Promotion Q by Aston Martin Racing Social Media Videos TOP TEN QUALIFYING FOR ASTON MARTIN AT THE NÜRBURGRING Published: Jun 20, 2014 Tags: Nürburgring, Racing by Pete Norwood Aston Martin Racing's V12 Vantage GT3 will start the 2014 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours from ninth place on the 169-strong grid, following an exciting top 30 qualifying shoot-out that saw works driver Stefan Mücke (DE) complete two flying laps of the 25-km long Nordschleife circuit. Nürburgring, 20 June 2014 - Aston Martin Racing's V12 Vantage GT3 will start the 2014 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours from ninth place on the 169-strong grid, following an exciting top 30 qualifying shoot-out that saw works driver Stefan Mücke (DE) complete two flying laps of the 25-km long Nordschleife circuit. Qualifying for the race - considered one of the most challenging and grueling 24-hour races in the world - takes place over two two-hour qualifying sessions followed by a shoot-out for the fastest 30. All drivers completed their two mandatory laps on Thursday evening's session but rain hampered this morning's outing for many of the top teams. With an anxious wait as the track slowly dried, the team sent Mücke out in the final 20-minutes, with the pressure on to try and beat the times set by competitors on a warm and dry track the day before. Despite damp and greasy patches across the asphalt, the German didn't disappoint and, in the final seconds of the session, he placed it 23rd. Drawing the 28th slot in the shoot-out, Mücke headed out onto the track to complete his laps in the Bilstein and Castrol Edge-liveried V12 machine and, on his second attempt, recorded the ninth fastest lap of the session. "It was a tough qualifying for us thanks to the weather this morning that made it difficult," commented Mücke. "However, we made it into the shoot-out and I think we can be happy with ninth." "We were three seconds faster than last year's qualifying time where qualified in second place but everyone else was faster this time, too. "We have found a good set up for the car for the race and we are happy with balance. The car runs fine, so we are now looking now for clean race – I can't wait." The first of the two race-prepared V8 Vantage N340s, driven by British journalists Chris Harris and Richard 'Dickie' Meaden and Nürburgring experts Oliver Mathai (DE) and Andreas Gülden (DE) qualified third in the SP10 class. The second of the N340s, competing in SP8, qualified fifth in class. Also in SP8, the close-to-production V12 Vantage S will start tomorrow's race from second in class. The 2014 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours starts at 1600hrs local time on Saturday 21 June. For more information and for live streaming go to www.astonmartin.com/n24 Back to all news items Share Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linked In Downloads Languages This article is available in the following languages: - English Cars Teams Series Partners History News Contact


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Mustang MonthlyHow To Paint Body
2005-2006 Ford Mustang Front And Rear Spoiler Installation
The retro styling of the S197 Mustang cries out for Classic Design's front spoiler and rear ducktail
George Huisman must lie awake night after night with CAD-style 3-D Mustangs rotating slowly in his noggin's grey matter, his mind's eye examining restyling opportunities from every possible angle. The owner of Classic Design Concepts has always seemed to lead the way with just-right visual enhancements for every recent generation of Pony, and it looks like George's insomnia has paid off again, this time with cool choices in chin spoilers and rear ducktails for the S197 coupe or convertible.
For up front, CDC (www.classicdesignconcepts.com) offers Classic and Aggressive GT chin spoilers, along with a specific model designed for the V-6 Mustang's slightly different front fascia. All are available unpainted or in textured, matte black for a real Boss look. Out back, CDC has crafted a subtle wraparound ducktail, with or without a frenched-in tri-bar pony, available unpainted or in any S197 factory hue.
In typical CDC fashion, materials are top-notch and installation is straightforward with help from well-illustrated instructions. We followed along as a matte-black Classic-model chin spoiler and pre-painted ducktail with a pony were fitted to a Satin Silver GT ragtop at CDC's Walled Lake, Michigan facility. Our suggestion? Order them pre-painted and you'll have them on your S197 with very little time and effort.


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3535 Elverta Road
Antelope, CA 95843
(916) 332-7041
Tuesday - Thursday
11:00am - 8:30pm
Friday & Sat.
11:00am - 9:00pm
Sunday & Monday
Have your party or event call for details
A family owned business, The Award Winning original House of Chicken and Ribs restaurant located in Antelope, just minutes north of Sacramento, specializes in serving southern style barbecue at its finest.
The restaurant prides itself on slowly smoking its seasoned Pork/Beef Ribs until the meat practically falls of the bone, grilling its marinated Tri-tip and Chicken to perfection, and serving tender hand made all beef links. The delicious tender meats are all served with the founding family�s special recipe mild or hot barbecue sauce. The restaurant serves Southern Fried Chicken and Wings, and fresh Seafood delicacies such as deep-fried Oysters, Jumbo Prawns, Catfish, and Red Snapper. The restaurant prepares homemade side dishes and desserts including freshly baked Peach Cobbler, Apple and Sweet Potato Pie.
Stop by and see for yourself, why the House of Chicken and Rib�s picked as the �Best of Sacramento� is a favorite hot spot for barbecue lovers, celebrities, politicians, and sport media personalities from near and far.
The House of Chicken and Ribs has consistently been the catering choice for:


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Troy Anthony Powell has been running Tap's Barber Shop for nine years and has seen business get better every year — until this year.
With the economy in a slump, Powell said loyal customers who used to come in for a haircut every week or even more often are now coming in every two or three weeks instead. Whereas some customers used to tip $5 or $10 on a $15 or $25 service, now that's down to $3 or even just a promise that "I'll get you next time."
And when they do sit down in the barber's chair, the conversation often turns to the economic pinch that everyone seems to be feeling these days.
"Within the last two months I've really seen a decline in business because I think a lot of people out there, they're struggling, they're having economic problems," he said.
That's translating into financial doldrums for Powell, 42, as well. This year, Powell expects to make about half as much money as he did last year in his suburban Minneapolis shop.
As the effects of the nation's financial crisis ripple across the country, many Americans are left holding jobs but taking home less money than they have been accustomed to earning. Hundreds of msnbc.com readers who responded to a Gut Check America call said they have seen their hours or wages cut, or that their tips and commissions have fallen sharply, because of the weak economy.
The responses reflect a national trend. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people who are working part-time but would like full-time work has risen by 1.6 million, to 6.1 million, over the past year. That figure increased by 337,000 people in September alone, the Labor Department said.
Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said the sharp rise in the ranks of the underemployed has come as a big surprise and will likely end up being yet another blow for working families and the economy as a whole. That's because it translates into less money to buy both necessities and discretionary items. That means less consumer spending, a key driver of the U.S. economy.
For Powell the drop in income means that he and his wife, a paralegal, are shopping and going out less, and probably will not be taking any trips this year. Powell has been able to keep his three other barbers on staff at the Richfield, Minn., shop, but he had to scrap a plan to provide them with health insurance.
Still, Powell said he has savings to fall back on, and he feels he has built up his business enough to weather the storm.
"I'm cutting back, but I do still feel like I'll be all right," he said.
For others who were already living paycheck to paycheck, the tightening market has had much harsher consequences.
Ron Siekierk, 22, quit a full-time job at a fast-food restaurant to move from his hometown of Traverse City, Mich., to California, but his plans there quickly fell through. After a stint in Florida, where he said the job market also was bleak, Siekierk found himself back in Michigan, unable to get his old job back or find another equivalent one. Everywhere he went, he said, he heard the same story — they weren't hiring.
Siekierk finally landed a part-time job at another restaurant, making $7.40 an hour, but he said he has been unable to find full-time work. That has left his budget extremely tight.
"I don't make enough to actually afford basic necessities," Siekierk said.
For now, Siekierk is staying with his girlfriend, who lives about five miles outside of town, and walking to work, he said. Hoping to improve his job prospects for the future, he has enrolled in a two-year computer information technology program at Northwestern Michigan College and applied for student loans to help cover costs.
When he finishes the program, he hopes to be able to land a job that makes at least $12 an hour. While he would rather pursue a career as a cook, he has decided that getting technical training is the more practical choice.
"It's not what I want to do, but there's more money and it's more readily available," he said.
Depleted retirement savings
While Siekierk is just starting out on his career path, Milton Comeaux finds himself at what he hoped to be the tail end of it. Now 58, the car salesman had set his sights on retiring at 62, using a small 401(k) account to pad his Social Security payments.
"I've got grandkids; I'd love to spend some time with them," he said.
But the stock market drop has depleted his retirement savings, and now business at the car dealership where he works, in New Iberia, La., is down sharply. Comeaux, who has worked there for the last 12 years, said he usually sells five or six cars a month, but this month, he didn't make his first sale until Oct. 21.
Like a number of car salesmen who responded to our call for stories, Comeaux is being hit by a triple whammy of the weak economy, the recent spike in gas prices and, mostly, a tightening credit market. Customer traffic is down, and of the people who do come into the dealership, as many as half don't qualify for a loan under new, stricter requirements, Comeaux said.
Comeaux says he lives frugally, and he's also picked up a little extra work on the side to make ends meet, but he still has to dip into savings every month. He knows that can't go on forever.
"At this rate I can probably go maybe another six months or so, and then I don't know," he said.
Bankruptcy fears
Paul Buzash also is facing the possibility that the business he has spent much of his life building will come crumbling down because of the tough credit market.
Buzash works as an environmental consultant in Glenville, N.Y., often helping companies interested in alternative energy go through the compliance process. While there has been plenty of buzz lately about alternative energy, he says most of those projects take years to complete, meaning companies can invest for as long as six years before they start generating cash.
With the credit markets tight, Buzash says many of his clients are having trouble getting the cash they need to pay him during the build-out process, in turn forcing him to leave bills unpaid. Some projects have been put on hold.
"I'm having a hard time just keeping past due 30 days, and I don't see a change on the horizon," he said.
For now, Buzash is relying on some savings, but he figures he can do that for only about six months. If things continue to go downhill, Buzash fears he will forced into bankruptcy, a devastating turn that could mean he would lose the house he shares with his wife and three kids, ages 17, 14 and 8. With no retirement savings, the house also is his nest egg.
"This is the worst I've seen it, there's no question," he said. "I'm trying to be optimistic and keep my head up and say, 'Hey, it's going to change, it's going to get better.' But I'm 53 years old, (and) I just don't remember anything like this."
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints


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Are you looking for someone that does Builders Cleans in Flemington or want to find a cleaning company that specialises in After Construction Cleaning? We are experts in high attention to detail for renovations, new home builds, office fit outs and new apartments. If you are in the process of building and want to find someone you can rely on to clean up and present your property in the "as new condition" it should be presented in, then we are the company to call.
The Team at Builders Cleans Flemington are well known for providing clients with an affordable, high attention to detail clean for renovations, new home builds, office fit outs and new apartments. We make your work look like it should - brand new! Unlike most other builders or after construction Flemington cleaning services is we actually specialise in builders cleans.
Don't get caught by hiring a cheap cleaning service that says they do builders cleans when in fact they really only know how to do end of lease cleans and regular domestic home cleaning.
If you want a after construction bulders cleaner that knows what they are doing, has proven experience with high attention to detail cleans that include removing paint marks off windows, window frames and other surfaces then talk to us. We also clean and remove dirst and dust from plasterboard so that your painters have a smooth surface to paint on.
If you want cleaning and paint spots removed from the glass we can do that too.
Not only will you realise that our builders cleans Flemington service is second to none, you'll also see that we are the real deal when it comes to commercial and industrial builders cleans.
If you are building a property in Flemington and need it cleaned before you hand it over to the new owners or advertise it on the market for sale or lease, then we are the guys to call in. Our team of experienced builders cleaners have plenty of experience and training in this type of cleaning.
For a service you can rely on for affordability, reliablility and efficiency call the team at Builders Cleans Flemington for a no obligation quote. Please note we do needs to come and view the property in order to give you an accurate price. Our prices vary depending on how many cleaners are required and how what needs cleaning.


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1. Maps for vehicles big and tall GPS manufacturer Magellan taps into the recreational vehicle craze by releasing the RoadMate RV9145 navigator, which features a seven-inch widescreen display and software that's been specifically engineered to help RV drivers navigate their way around. Magellan has partnered with Good Sam Trailer Life RV Parks and Campgrounds Directory to provide information within the RV9145 about more than 11,700 campgrounds located across Canada and the United States, with the device offering specific information about the amenities that are featured at each location. The RV9145 has North American map data, six million points of interest, intelligent route planning based upon the driver's historical route preference, spoken street names and night view, which automatically adjusts colour and contrast for easy night-time viewing. Magellan has even taken into account the fact that RVs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, as RV9145 users can automatically select routes based upon vehicle height, width and length in order to be assured that a low highway overpass or narrow tunnel will not scratch your svelte, mobile vacation on wheels. $350; visit magellangps.com.
2. Toronto gets Blaupunkt With a name that sounds like a German practical joke, it's not altogether surprising that stereo manufacturer Blaupunkt has released a car stereo that's sure to seem like a prank to Canadians. As though Toronto the Good needs any further ammunition to fashion itself the centre of the universe, the Toronto 410 BT car stereo adds the Canadian burgh to a growing list of world cities whose names have been bestowed upon Blaupunkt products. The Toronto 410 BT features Bluetooth capability, iPod and iPhone control, a front-loading USB port, a three-band equalizer, easy-to-read display, SD, MMC and auxiliary input and a detachable panel. Before anybody shakes his or her firsts in jubilation or in anger, bear in mind that Blaupunkt has previously named stereos after Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, so Toronto is not breaking any new ground here. And while there's nothing in the feature set that bears recognition between the product and its namesake, the Toronto 410 BT may be somewhat overpriced and many would agree that this makes it deserving of its name after all. $250; visit blaupunkt.com.


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Former Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon admits he could be forced into retirement.
The 30-year-old is without a club after leaving Sunderland at the end of last season.
Two broken arms and a knee injury undermined his latter years on Wearside and the ongoing problem with his leg has meant he has been without a club this season.
Gordon told Dumbarton's website: "It's very unlikely I will be playing again this season. In fact I'm not sure if I'll play again, so I'm looking to get into coaching as I want to remain in the game.
"I'm not ruling out playing again, but I need to get things in place if the news is not good in that respect."
He added in a number of national newspapers: "I've had a couple of surgeries on it, but it's definitely not back to 100 per cent yet.
"Hopefully I can get back to playing with a bit of pain. It's about getting to a stage where I can get what I need to out of the knee.
"That's part of the reason I wanted to go into coaching, you don't know when the end might come for playing.
"I'm certainly not ready to throw in the towel just yet but it's been a long time and I don't know where I'll be going in the future."


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|International orders may be delayed up to 15 days or more due to carrier labor challenges.
Hillsdale Furniture takes your game room to a whole new level with our Warrington game table and chairs. Our multi-functional table offers a flip top that allows for a dining surface on one side and a game surface complete with chip trays and drink holders on the other.
Total of $200.00 of FREE GAMES included!
|21-inch Tournament Backgammon Set - Black
Reg. Price: $99.95
|Contemporary Staunton Chessmen with Spanish Wood Chess Board
Reg. Price: $139.95
Feel like checkers or chess? Take off the entire top, and you'll find a built in board. Also, you will sit at your new table in comfort on the upholstered back adjustable height, tilt, and castered arm chair.
Finally, we have created a collection that is not only functional and affordable, but attractive. The Warrington features a rich cherry finish, supple black vinyl, a pretty round back chair and traditional design elements. This collection is the perfect way to turn your kitchen or dining room into an entertainment hot spot for friends, family and fun.
4 luxurious chairs are included in this set.
FREE SHIPPING! (Contiguous states only.) Orders are processed daily Monday - Friday and usually ship within 3-5 days for goods in stock. You should expect delivery within 7-10 business days of placing your order. [Important Shipping Info]
Hillsdale Furniture - outstanding craftsmanship, quality styling, and beautiful finishes at affordable prices.
|Table Dimensions:
|Table Height:
|Table Finish:
|Table Details:
|* Drink and chip holders
* Some assembly required
|Table Care:
|Dust frequently using a clean, specially treated dusting cloth that will attract and hold dust particles. Do not use wax or abrasive cleaners as they may damage the finish.
|Chair Dimensions:
|Chair Height:
|25 1/2"
|Chair Finish:
|Chair Fabric:
|Chair Details:
|* Some assembly required
USA & CANADA - shipping via UPS
We offer FREE ground shipping to the contiguous USA and Canada (Hawaii and Alaska are excluded) for many products. Look for the "FREE SHIPPING" designation.
For all other items, and for Express Shipping options, we use an integrated online UPS shipping calculator. The shipping charges are calculated in real time by UPS. 1
Once you have finished shopping, you will be able to select Express Shipping options (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3-Day Select) on check-out. Only after you know the total charge, will you be asked to enter your payment information. 2
For same day shipping, where indicated, orders must be received before 2pm Eastern Time (New York) in order to ship same day. Orders received after 2pm will be sent out the following business day. Orders received on weekends and on holidays will be processed the next business day.
INTERNATIONAL - shipping via USPS
We offer shipping to over 190 countries with United States Postal Service using Express Mail International. Packages are insured and fully trackable.
International orders can take up to 5 business days to ship. Once your order ships, you will receive a tracking number by email. Customers are responsible for any import charges (tax, duty, etc.)
APO AND MILITARY ADDRESSES - shipping via USPS
Unfortunately, we cannot supply tracking numbers for shipments to APO/FPO addresses. The U.S. Government requires that we send all shipments to APO/FPO addresses using the U.S. Postal Service.
When completing your Shipping Address during checkout, please make note of the following.
* The Country must be "USA"
* The City must be entered as either "APO" or "FPO"
* The State must be selected as either "APO/FPO AA" "APO/FPO AE" or "APO/FPO AP"
* You must enter the zip code for your shipping address
* Always remember to enter your full name, grade, and PSC or unit number.
If you have any questions, please email us at email@example.com, or call us toll free in USA & Canada at 1- 866-260-2058.
1 Shipping charges at all times are based on weight and not on ticket price. There is a minimum 1-pound shipping charge on any item, including small items such as dice or checkers. In these cases, shipping charges can exceed the cost of the item.
2 We offer Express Shipping options on all items except Hillsdale game tables. All Hillsdale game tables ship ground freight.


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"rocks from the first note to the last, yet balances memorable songwriting and very catchy melodies into a concoction that is destined to be the next big thing..." — Outburn Magazine
"Quiet Geist doesn't ask for introspection or analysis. Instead, it asks you to simply let go, live in the moment, and embrace disillusionment..." — Short And Sweet NYC
"Despite all the electronics, the music doesn't feel at all synthetic. They managed to maintain a more organic feeling to their songs and the songs are really catchy and melodic..." — The Punk Vault
"Quiet Geist- with its overcast and sometimes nihilistic tint- is more of an anthem for the disillusioned rather than an answer to their questions. .." — Indie Ambassador
"the songs pop out at the listener. This style of production is perfect for their style. Everything can be heard with perfect clarity no detail is left out... everything about this release is strong and has immense potential..." — Scene Point Blank
John Paul Tonelli:
Gregg Kusumah-Atmadja: guitar/keys
Shawn Pelkey: drums/keys
Adrian Bettencourt Andrade: bass/keys
"HERRA TERRA was conceived by Vocalist, John Paul Tonelli and Guitarist, Gregg Kusumah-Atmadja. The duo released a 3 song EP in 2008 entitled Organs For The Afterlife with help from other Boston based musicians (Bad Rabbits, Irepress) and Sound Engineer, Mike Mo Lapierre (Death Cab for Cutie, Brand New, Dropkick Murphy's). Not being able to find a permanent fixture on drums, the band played as a two piece electronic act in the New England area until 2009. After rigorously searching for a drummer, the band recruited Brad Caetano (Arms & Sleepers, Seneca, AM/PM). Ever since, the group has melded together and enhanced their electronic and live elements. Now adding Adrian Bettencourt Andrade on Bass, HERRA TERRA has finally transitioned into the electro/rock outfit they ve been threatening to become this entire time. The band mixes elements of Depeche Mode, Le Tigre, Head Automatica, and Duran Duran to create an exciting new album that is just as easy to dance to as it to listen to analytically. This is definitely more than just a party, but it IS a party. HERRA TERRA has shared the stage with some outstanding artists such as: Shiny Toy Guns, Piebald, Damone, Freeze Pop, Green Jelly, Appleseed Cast, Hot Rod Circuit, Chk Chk Chk (!!!), Bad Rabbits, Irepress, Semi Precious Weapons and many others. Now the band is ready to get out on the road and bring the dance party to new places who've yet to witness it. As Emma Goldman once said: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." "


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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) Trey Burke had 22 points and 10 assists as No. 2 Michigan finished its non-conference schedule with a 88-73 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday night.
Michigan played without junior Tim Hardaway Jr. who missed the first game of his career with an ankle injury. That meant the Wolverines started three freshmen - Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Caris LeVert - along with Burke and Jordan Morgan.
Robinson had 20 points, while Stauskas finished with 19 for Michigan (13-0), which is off to the second-best start in school history. The 1985-86 Wolverines team, led by Gary Grant, Roy Tarpley and Glen Rice, started the season 16-0 on its way to a Big Ten championship.
Central Michigan (7-6) was hoping to match the success of its football team, which won the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Wednesday, but never recovered from falling behind by seven points in the first three minutes.


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Farewell to FeelGoods Cafe, St. James
FeelGoods, Kathy Gerdes and Nicole Lawrence's friendly little health-conscious cafe, has closed. Earlier this week the women posted on their Facebook page that after a lot of "business soul-searching," it became clear that "closing is the difficult but necessary move."
Last March, the cafe's signature item, the vegetarian EdgyBurger, took first place in the new-product competition at the New York Restaurant & Foodservice Show at the Javits Center. A few months later, Lawrence and Gerdes began selling the burger online and in the fall they renamed the cafe FeelGoods EdgyBurger Bar.
For the moment, the EdgyBurger is on hiatus, but the women are looking for a way to resume production and sales. Updates will be posted at www.facebook.com/edgyburger.


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Angelina Jolie copied by men!
Mike Adams
May 20, 2013
Beyond merely inspiring women to cut off healthy breasts just because they carry the BRCA1 gene, Angelina Jolie also seems to be inspiring men to remove some of their own reproductive organs as well. According to an IBtimes article, a British man is the first person to have had his prostate gland surgically removed because he carries the BRCA2 "breast cancer" gene that's related to the BRCA1 gene suddenly made famous by Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy.
IBtimes reports, "Surgeons were initially reluctant, since the potential side effects of the operation include infertility, incontinence and sexual dysfunction."
But what the hell, right? If cutting off healthy organs is trendy enough for Angelina Jolie, it's gotta be trendy enough for everybody else… including men!
Medical self-mutilation… a new fashion statement for the chronically stupid
This new meme of medical self-mutilation is spreading fast, and surgeons are jumping on the bandwagon, realizing there's a windfall of profits to be made from performing surgical procedures on people who don't need surgery.
After all, the only reason surgery isn't a much larger industry is because most surgeons limit their practice only to people who have a medical need for surgery. But why set an artificial limit? It's so much more profitable to convince people to remove healthy organs… and what better way to make it trendy than to get Hollywood celebrities to talk it up?
Surgeons, too, are hyping the fear factor. Roger Kirby, the lead surgeon on this prostate cancer removal, reportedly told the Sunday Times, "…knowing you are a carrier [of the BRCA2 gene] is like having the sword of Damocles hanging over you. You are living in a state of constant fear. I am sure more male BRCA carriers will now follow suit [with surgical removal]."
Especially if more celebrities come out and promote these medical self-mutilation procedures as trendy and cool, of course.
Hey, I want to see Brad Pitt's prostate gland stuffed into a glass tube and hanging around Angelina Jolie's neck like she used to reportedly do with Billy Bob Thorton's blood. That wouldn't be weird, would it?
I think we should start a "Skin Removal Foundation" to have all the skin surgically removed from people who might someday have skin cancer… which includes everyone.
Or better yet, the "Young Women Breast Cancer Prevention Society" which chops off their breasts at age nine, before puberty really kicks in. Just tell your little girls how much you love them before the anesthesia kicks in. That's what good mommies do, isn't it?
And for the young boys, why stop at slicing off their foreskin at birth? Penis mutilation is just a warm-up for today's insane medical monsters. Why not remove their colons at birth so that they never run the risk of dying from colon cancer? Why not cut off their testicles and make sure they never face the future possible risk of testicular cancer, too?
I know, it's insane. Disgusting. Outrageous. And yet it's happening right now thanks to women like Angelina Jolie who are publicizing and pushing this idea that women should have healthy breasts cut out of their bodies even though there is no rational medical justification for doing so.
You are your own boogeyman: Cut off anything that scares you
So now we've come to the end game of slash-and-burn medicine deployed across a sick, demented society: Having healthy organs isn't good enough anymore. Now we have to cut out organs just because we have the fear of possible future disease — a fear that is utterly irrational and hyped up by the cancer industry itself. This fear is the adult medical version of the "Boogeyman" that children think is hiding under their beds at night.
Watch out, women, the breast cancer boogeyman is coming to get you! Better cut off the organs before they become diseased, and that way you can live in total peace with a "zen attitude" about life.
Never mind any discussion of how to live a healthy, cancer-free life while reducing your risk of cancer to nearly zero. It's easy to accomplish with foods, superfoods, nutritional supplements, exercise and other simple lifestyle choices. But you don't hear this offered anywhere in the media. Instead, it's all about, "Cut it off!"
The new answer to disease: Cut out the organ that might be involved and call it a cure
Got a problem eating too much ice cream? Cut out your stomach! (Bariatric surgery)
Gallbladder suddenly hurting from your crappy junk food diet? Slice it out with a precision medical instrument! (A common medical procedure across the USA today)
Your brain working too fast? Sever your corpus callosum and disconnect! (Common psychiatric treatment)
Sweating too much? Have your sweat glands removed! (This is a very popular surgery in Taiwan and China.)
Never mind the risk of surgery and anesthesia, the nerve damage, the numb scar tissue, the ridiculous medical bills and the crippling side effects of going under the knife. None of these things are your concern. You need to be a Hollywood hipster like Jolie, and that can only be accomplished, dear reader, through scar tissue!
Call 1-800-CHOP-OFF today! (satire)
What are you waiting for? Call 1-800-CHOP-OFF today and discover the new, risk-free, worry-free YOU! Operators and surgeons are standing by with scalpels at the ready. No organ too large or too small! … Not even yours!
Call 1-800-CHOP-OFF now and be prepared to show your Obamacare policy number for a FREE consultation with our team of highly-experienced medical mutilators. Out top man has removed over 147 breasts so far, and he's ready for more!
Coming soon in 2014: Drive-through double mastectomies performed by Walgreens! Drive in with worries, drive out with pure bliss, knowing your breasts will never kill you! Peace of mind is priceless, plus you'll never have to breastfeed ever again!
Do-It-Yourself Medical Mutilation Arrives Soon
And coming in 2015: The "Organ Whacker Saw" Do-It-Yourself breast and prostate remover!
No body part is worth keeping around if it might kill you in your sleep, is it? Don't live with the terrible burden of knowing there is a 1 in 1,000 chance of dying from a preventable disease that you aren't preventing. Take care of the problem yourself — in seconds — with the new, FDA-approved "Organ Whacker Saw," shown in the picture on the right.
The Organ Whacker Saw is Hollywood approved and it instantly whacks off breasts, testicles, ears, feet and hands. In "advanced mode" it can even be used to remove those pesky kidneys and prostate glands! Worried about your prostate? Toss your sex life out the window and whack your prostate! It's gone! And so are your worries!
WARNING: The Organ Whacker Saw should never be used on anyone else due to the danger of personal injury. Only use it on yourself! Because that's trendy. Read included instructions and safety warnings before using.
The Organ Whacker Saw will be available at Home Depot, Lowe's and CVS Pharmacies everywhere. Ask for it by name: "I want the Organ Whacker Saw!" Don't settle for cheap imitations made in China. Organ Whacker saw is made in the USA with American pride in every sharpened, precision instrument. It comes with a 48-volt rechargeable lithium-ion battery good for over 2,000 mutilations!
Self-mutilation has never been easier: Whack your organs off with the most trusted name in the industry: the Organ Whacker Saw!
(Reality check: If you think this satire has gone too far, just wait ten years and it will all become a reality. A decade ago, the idea that women would cut off their breasts when they had no breast cancer was considered medical lunacy. Now it's trendy and cool.)
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!


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It is true that Oracle Enterprise Single Sign-on (Oracle ESSO) started out as purely an application single sign-on tool but as we have seen in the previous articles in this series the product has matured into a suite of tools that can do more than just automated single sign-on and can also provide rapidly deployed, cost effective solution to many demanding password management problems.
In the last article of this series I would like to discuss three cases where customers faced password scenarios that required more than just single sign-on and how some of the less well known tools in the Oracle ESSO suite "kitbag" helped solve these challenges.
Case #1
One of the issues often faced by our customers is how to keep their applications compliant. I had a client who liked the idea of automated single sign-on for most of his applications but had a key requirement to actually increase the security for one specific SOX application. For the SOX application he wanted to secure access by using two-factor authentication with a smartcard. The problem was that the application did not support two-factor authentication. The solution was to use a feature from the Oracle ESSO suite called authentication manager. This feature enables you to have multiple authentication methods for the same user which in this case was a smartcard and the Windows password. Within authentication manager each authenticator can be configured with a security grade so we gave the smartcard a high grade and the Windows password a normal grade. Security grading in Oracle ESSO can be configured on a per application basis so we set the SOX application to require the higher grade smartcard authenticator.
The end result for the user was that they enjoyed automated single sign-on for most of the applications apart from the SOX application. When the SOX application was launched, the user was required by ESSO to present their smartcard before being given access to the application.
Case #2
Another example solving compliance issues was in the case of a large energy company who had a number of core billing applications. New regulations required that users change their password regularly and use a complex password. The problem facing the customer was that the core billing applications did not have any native user password change functionality. The customer could not replace the core applications because of the cost and time required to re-develop them. With a reputation for innovation aurionPro SENA were approached to provide a solution to this problem using Oracle ESSO.
Oracle ESSO has a password expiry feature that can be triggered periodically based on the timestamp of the users' last password creation therefore our strategy here was to leverage this feature to provide the password change experience. The trigger can launch an application change password event however in this scenario there was no native change password feature that could be launched therefore a "dummy" change password screen was created that could imitate the missing change password function and connect to the application database on behalf of the user.
Oracle ESSO was configured to trigger a change password event every 60 days. After this period if the user launched the application Oracle ESSO would detect the logon screen and invoke the password expiry feature. Oracle ESSO would trigger the "dummy screen," detect it automatically as the application change password screen and insert a complex password on behalf of the user. After the password event had completed the user was logged on to the application with their new password. All this was provided at a fraction of the cost of re-developing the core applications.
Case #3
Recent popular initiatives such as the BYOD and working from home schemes bring with them many challenges in administering "unmanaged machines" and sometimes "unmanageable users."
In a recent case, a client had a dispersed community of casual contractors who worked for the business using their own laptops to access applications. To improve security the around password management the security goal was to provision the passwords directly to these contractors. In a previous article we saw how Oracle ESSO has the capability to provision passwords through Provisioning Gateway but the challenge in this scenario was how to get the Oracle ESSO agent to the casual contractor on an unmanaged machine.
The answer was to use another tool in the suite, Oracle ESSO Anywhere. This component can compile the normal Oracle ESSO functionality into a deployment package that can be made available from a website in a similar way to a streamed application. The ESSO Anywhere agent does not actually install into the registry or program files but runs in a folder within the user's profile therefore no local administrator rights are required for installation. The ESSO Anywhere package can also be configured to stay persistent or disable itself at the end of the user's session.
In this case the user just needed to be told where the website package was located and download the package. Once the download was complete the agent started automatically and the user was provided with single sign-on to their applications without ever knowing the application passwords.
Finally, as we have seen in these series Oracle ESSO not only has great utilities in its own tool box but also has direct integration with Oracle Privileged Account Manager, Oracle Identity Manager and Oracle Access Manager. Integrated together with these tools provides a complete and complementary platform to address even the most complex identity and access management requirements.
So what next for Oracle ESSO?
"Agentless ESSO available in the cloud" – but that will be a subject for a future Oracle ESSO series!